Midrash and Intertextuality

Question 1

What is midrash? View of Neusner.

Answer 1

A tool for debate, interpretation and engagement alongside biblical texts.

Neusner says that midrash holds together 2 competing truths: the authority of Scripture and the freedom of interpretation.

Question 2

Roots of midrash

Answer 2

rooted in ‘darash’ which means to search out or interpret.

Question 3

Assumptions of midrash

Answer 3

Verses shed light on one another; all truth may be found within Scripture if we look for it (all pieces of Scripture are important).

Question 4

Theological purpose of midrash

Answer 4

it is a religious imperative and sacred task – allows readers and followers to relate to God.

Question 5

Example of midrash in the Bible

Answer 5

Genesis 22: God calls “Abraham, Abraham…” when Abraham takes Isaac to sacrifice, as requested by God as a test of faith. God calls Abraham to stop him.

Midrash brought in because God calls Abraham twice? As a figure of absolute authority, why would he need to call him twice?

The Rabbi R. Hiyya suggests the first call is an expression of love and the second is an expression of encouragement. Another suggests it means God’s promises to Abraham will never end.

Neither interpretation can be judged as true or false, however both give insight into the goodness of God.

Question 6

Example of Midrash in literature

Answer 6

Emily Dickinson’s A Little East of Jordan.
2 versions of the poem exist with a second published by her niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi.

Neither version is ‘correct’ – the reader must make a choice as to which reading to take.

Question 7

Further intertextuality - levels of allusion

Answer 7

Quotation = lifting a biblical text into a literary text.

Allusion = most common - an idea or thematic approach to biblical texts that are not identical

Echo = not confidently claiming to be a biblical idea

Question 8

Problems with Intertextuality/Midrash?

Answer 8

Can lead to desaturation of texts?

• A Little East of Jordan
• The Handmaid’s Tale

Reader creates the meaning. Leads to assumptions about the Bible that lead to a negative view of religion. False quotations - how do these impact non-Christians view of the Bible?
- false beatitudes in the Handmaid’s Tale: “blessed are the silent”
- misinterpretation of Chronicles:
“the eyes of the Lord run to and fro the whole earth”